China FM urges opportunity in Iran N-talks to be seized

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called upon parties involved in the nuclear negotiations with Iran to “seize the opportunity” and exhibit flexibility together with political determination to help the talks come into fruition.

“Important progress has been made in the Iranian nuclear talks, and it is in every party’s interests to reach a comprehensive agreement,” Wang said in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Sunday during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammd Javad Zarif.

He added that China will continue to make positive efforts to advance the negotiations.

Top representatives from six major countries and Iran will have a plenary meeting in Lausanne to narrow their differences in negotiations aimed at reaching a final deal over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will on Monday sit down with US Secretary of State John Kerry, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator, Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, told Press TV late on Sunday that the talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany, are “in a very critical situation.”

“We are in the last stage of negotiations, we are in a very critical situation,” Araqchi said.

On Sunday, Zarif held separate bilateral talks with his Chinese, German, British and Russian counterparts over the outstanding issues between the parties to the negotiations.

The final stage of the talks in Lausanne is expected to continue until Tuesday, March 31, which was set as a deadline for reaching mutual understanding in the Iran-P5+1 negotiations.